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Anyone here ever have a reaction to the glycerin based creams? I have been using T&H's sandalwood and have had a rash break out at the base of my neck. I didn't know if it might be the glycerin, or the fragrance.
Anyone have problems with the tallow based soaps?
Thanks in advance,
Cutter
I had some samples from them recently, and noticed that a LITTLE seriously goes a long way - think i could get 3 - 4 shaves out of one of their little samplers. This equates to about half or less of what i would use for other creams. Before I worked that out, I nearly burnt my face off with the stuff.
It still burns when I use the correct amount now, but thats due to my sensitive/allergenic skin.
This smells like a case of contact dermatitis. Since the rash is only on the base of your neck, it probably indicates that you do not wash the lather off well enough in that area. Not that I claim to be a dermatologist and by the way, if the problem is severe, you should probably consider visiting one. This brings me to a couple of things: 1) Truefitt & Hill products rock in general but I have noticed a slight dryness with a couple of their creams, I have very sensitive skin too; of course, that alone would not explain why it only happens on the base of the neck; 2) sandalwood is notorious for irritating the skin; 3) I would really not call this product a "glycerin-based" cream but sure enough it contains glycerin. Glycerin can dry your skin fast if not properly used. As wedwards says, the concentration of the chemicals in the lather is very important, especially when your skin is sensitive. This is a performance cream so if you go with the guideline of an almond sized dollop and you are not floating in lather, you may be making the lather way too concentrated. As always, good lathering skills is the key here; nothing wrong with review.
Al raz.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cutter2001
I am doing all of the above. I am using a silver dollar size amount, probably more, and I have started liberally washing it off after my shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alraz
Do you use a bowl with the creams? I have been using my hand with the brush and getting what I thought were decent results, but I could be wrong.
Thanks again,
Cutter
I have a lot of glycerin based soap. I've read on forums that some members find that one blend or another will give a burning sensation to the point where they cannot comfortably use it. Lucky for me no soap or cream with or without glycerin has bothered me so far. I guess you have to try something without the glycerin and see if you get better results. Mitchell's Wool Fat with lanolin might be a good soap for you. I don't think that it contains glycerin but I'm not 100% positive. Treats my skin very nice though.
A silver dollar of Truefitt & Hill cream seems like a lot, perhaps an indication of the root of the problem. I would suggest decreasing the amount of cream by half. This video, which you may have seen before, should give you a general idea of the quantities: YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather
To answer your question, I use a very large bowl (5.5") when I test my creams. These pictures should give a decent idea of my method. Please keep in mind that The Bomb has very unusual lathering properties:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...turn-bomb.html
When I shave, I almost always lather on my face but the results should be similar to using the hand, except for the face preparation aspect. I think that if you use a lot of cream, inevitable, you are going to end up with either a pile of lather, a lot more than what you can hold in your hand, unless you are King Kong ;-); or, your lather would be way too dry. One easy way to test for that is to put a bit of lather on your thumb and let it touch the index finger; then slowly separate them. You should get a minimum of 1" of separation before the lather breaks. You may want to try using a bowl at first because it might give you more control over the process. The idea is to get the correct cream:water ratio to reach the peak of the cream (the point where no more lather can be built). In addition to the video, there are good tutorials in the wiki: Category:Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki
I forgot to mention that Jimmy is right, Mitchell's Wool Fat is amazing: very gentle and leaves your skin soft and nice, it contains glycerin though. You may want to check this out, although they do not claim any beneficial effects for the skin:
Mitchell's Wool Fat Soap
Al raz.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cutter2001
Thanks for all the replys. You guys were right on the money. I started using 1/2 the amount of cream, and started using a mug. Just as good a shave without the burning rash lol.
Thanks again,
Cutter